Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era Review: A New Life for an Aged Franchise

Heroes of Might and Magic (HOMM) is back and better than ever! I was really excited to play this game, and I wasn’t disappointed. I had a great time with it and think it will become a favorite for playing on my own, even though I’m still learning the ropes.

It’s been a decade since the last Heroes of Might and Magic game, and this new installment is making a strong impression. While it’s still under development and not quite polished, the current version offers a lot to enjoy for fans of strategy games. Expect a complex and engaging experience with over 100 hours of gameplay.

I didn’t quite connect with certain aspects of the game, and some of the design choices felt a little restrictive – but that might just be me. I was surprised by how many complex systems the game had, and it felt overwhelming at first. However, after playing for a while, I started to understand things better and really began to enjoy it.

What is Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era?

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is a strategy game that combines familiar elements with a hero system. You’ll recruit heroes from your side to defeat enemies and achieve goals. As you explore the map, you’ll gather resources, capture key locations, improve your heroes’ abilities, and collect equipment, gradually revealing more of the world.

This game offers a huge variety of ways to play, including challenges, a complete campaign, and even a local hot seat mode. While there’s plenty to explore, I mainly enjoyed the campaign and standard game modes. You’ll find four main options: Arena, Classic, Single Hero, and Scenarios – so there’s something for everyone!

The game has several different ways to play. The campaign is the main one, where you play as Gunnar, a Minotaur warrior, and investigate strange events for a group called the Triumvirate. It’s a fun story that also teaches you how to play the game.

This campaign currently finishes at the end of the first section, which is a good stopping point while we continue developing the game during Early Access. If you’re a fan of the classic Heroes of Might and Magic style, you’ll find plenty to enjoy here. Games tend to be lengthy, similar to other grand strategy titles, though experienced players can complete some missions relatively quickly.

Deep and Complex Gameplay

I never got to experience the original games, but this gameplay really surprised me with how intricate and challenging it was. It took some getting used to, as it wasn’t quite what I expected, and that unfamiliar feeling stuck with me for a while, though I eventually figured things out.

Keeping track of everything – building your army, scouting the map, collecting resources, battling opponents, and capturing key locations – can be challenging, and it only gets more complex as the game goes on. It’s important to carefully manage your supplies and protect your cities from enemy attacks.

The game’s complexity lets skilled players really shine, though luck plays a role. For example, I got my hero, Gunnar, to gain two focus points each round during a campaign mission. This allowed me to use any troop abilities whenever I needed, which made battles much simpler.

The game lets you completely customize your hero, which is great. However, that freedom became challenging as I played further in. While some of that was my own learning curve, I often felt like battles would inevitably end in defeat as they got harder.

Exploration, but Only Sort Of

I get that the game needs to divide the map into sections for it to function, but it can feel frustrating to be stuck in one area and forced to fight tough battles until you’ve built up a strong army. I really enjoy seeing the map gradually reveal itself, so being restricted like that was a bit annoying. While it made logical sense within the game, it still felt like a deliberate way to limit player freedom.

The game’s enemies don’t pose a significant challenge until after a few months of play, which I found surprising for a grand strategy game where exploration is usually key. This also affects the campaign missions, but in a way that felt even more unusual and disconnected.

Having a lot of freedom was enjoyable at first, but as I played longer, it started to feel more challenging than helpful.

When you control several heroes, you have more options, but you might still struggle if you can’t move beyond your starting area. This could be specific to the maps I played, but it appears the game is designed to limit hero conflicts at the beginning.

I found it frustrating when the game unexpectedly halted progress and made me change my approach. While some players might enjoy that kind of challenge, I prefer having more freedom to explore, especially given how lengthy the game can be. Otherwise, I really enjoyed discovering new locations and developing a long-term strategy.

Some Great Additions to the Series

The game has received a bunch of updates recently, including things like Law Points, Focus Points, Faction Skills, and Long Reach Attacks. I won’t go over everything, but I want to point out a few features I especially liked. Focus Points, for example, really improved combat and made it more engaging.

You can earn up to three Focus Points during battle, which power up both your units’ special attacks and your hero’s abilities. You’ll gain these points by both dealing and receiving damage, and knowing when to use them is crucial – it can easily turn a losing fight into a win.

Law Points add an extra challenge to the game. You earn them daily and use them to upgrade your cities and heroes, giving you helpful bonuses for survival. While useful, they also require careful management, as you’ll sometimes need to decide between collecting Law Points and gathering other resources.

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These changes all seem like positive steps forward from the classic Heroes of Might and Magic 3. While I haven’t personally compared them, they definitely make the game more fun to play. Grand strategy games are known for being complex, and I started to feel like this one was becoming a bit overwhelming.

Is There Such a Thing as Too Complex?

The game has a good level of depth, which can lead to engaging strategies, though it sometimes feels a bit intricate. While the complexity generally works well, I still think something is lacking to fully complete the experience.

I couldn’t find a glossary or any helpful explanations anywhere. The game often doesn’t clearly explain how things work, using confusing language and vague descriptions instead. Experienced players might be able to figure it out, but it’s really confusing for beginners.

I really enjoy discovering new areas on the map, so being restricted to a single location was a bit frustrating. I understood why it happened, but it still felt like the game was deliberately holding me back.

It would be great if the game included a way to look up definitions of unfamiliar terms, like highlighted words or a glossary. It’s not essential, but players shouldn’t need to spend a lot of time figuring out what everything means when they start playing. I often felt like there was too much information to process all at once.

Once you get past the initial learning curve, the game becomes very rewarding and lets you play the way you want. I just wish it felt a little more accessible at the beginning. It’s not impossibly complicated, but it’s definitely one of the more intricate strategy games I’ve experienced.

Closing Comments

Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is a fantastic addition to the series, successfully returning to the core elements that make the games so enjoyable. Although the gameplay is quite involved and may not appeal to all players, it provides a great deal of flexibility in how you approach each challenge and develop your own unique strategy. The game offers lengthy campaigns, but also includes other modes to help you practice and improve. It’s still being developed, so there are a few issues to iron out, but the future looks very promising for Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era.

2026-04-28 17:12